Now going into year five, Throw the Dice and Play Nice is getting ready to introduce some fun changes that will come along as the year progresses. New types of articles, more ways to interact and have those hot discussions and debates–even a new look is coming soon! I am beyond excited and I’ll openly admit, quite proud, to say this little corner of the net where I write words has stayed true to itself but, never become a place of monotonous predictability. Art, creation, music, lyrics, pictures, people and their personalities are all different so as always, let’s dive into the next 365 taking on all of that uniqueness and do it with all the passion and none of the fear.

* * *

In honor of starting year five, here are five things I’ve taken away as ongoing thoughts of importance:

1. Embrace a new genre, even if you only do so by starting with a single song by a band you haven’t heard before. If your default excuse is, “well, that’s not my thing,” think about it: Nothing used to be “your thing.” We all had to take a first listen to everything we claim to love now, in order to love it in the first place. So that thing that’s “not your thing” might surprise you and suddenly “become your thing.”

2. Controversy is worth paying attention to–only to a point. Like stereotypes, stories that breed such stiff opposite sides and such high levels of volume from their respective parties, are usually initiated from a grain of something that has indeed happened in real life but then spread and mutated like wildfire to become talk about seemingly everything but the actual issue/topic/facts.

3. Artists change and sometimes it’s important, and can even be interesting, to step back and look at the whole of their timeline. Taylor Swift is my favorite example of this. As metal scribe Kim Kelly recently put it, and I will jump on this wagon with her, “I have a very complicated and nuanced relationship with Tay Tay and her discography.”

4. Don’t watch a whole concert through your phone. Full disclosure: I do take pictures at concerts but more and more I’m reaching for my phone less and less and I’m extremely happy about it. A photo here and there that reminds you of the mental and emotional space you were in, in that moment, during that concert, is cool. Past that though, look up, the bassist is about to tap your head with the neck of his instrument and if you’re holding your phone, well, your hand can’t hold your phone and touch a famous musician’s bass at the same time, can it?

5.If you have a pair of thoughts or ideas that seem insane because they’ve never existed and don’t, in any way, seem like they go together, start writing it down and or doing something with it.This year’s Music Tech Fest in London is a prime example of this mentality. The festival introduced me to so many people who have degrees and training and aspirations that feel like the oddest pairings in the world but these people make these supposedly opposing skill sets fit together like a perfectly coordinated outfit.

To wrap up, once again, thought you’re probably sick of being told, but I will say anyway:

Thank you everyone who continues to support myself and this space, read these words and those who give back thoughts of their own. You each make this so much more than what it began as and I only hope for it to get better and better.